Unravelling heterogeneity and dynamics of commuting efficiency: Industry-level insights into evolving efficiency gaps based on a disaggregated excess-commuting framework

Abstract

Commuting efficiency, a measure of how effectively workers utilise their time and resources for journeys to work, is generally assessed through an excess commuting framework. This approach quantifies the disparity between the theoretical minimum and actual commutes. However, conventional methods often make oversimplified assumptions of industry homogeneity and temporal invariance, neglecting the intricate dynamics of commuting efficiency. To bridge the gap, this study scrutinises cross-year commuting efficiency across 13 industry sectors by developing a disaggregated excess-commuting framework. An analysis of substantial data encompassing 11 million commuters in Shenzhen over the period from 2017 to 2021 reveals that: (1) secondary sectors and industries requiring relatively lower skills demonstrate higher commuting efficiency compared to their tertiary, high-skilled counterparts; (2) increases in industry-related minimum and random commuting significantly contribute to the growth of commuting distances, whereas local self-contained employment helps mitigate this effect; and (3) addressing jobs-housing imbalance in absolute ratio may not necessarily reduce commuting distances for all industry sectors. Urban policy development should be specifically tailored to the unique evolution of commuting efficiency performance within individual industries, rather than adopting a generic one-size-fits-all approach.